I am a 25 year old UK citizen looking to pursue my dream to train and become an airline pilot.

I have looked at Oxford Aviation and CTC Wings in the UK. However due to the costs involved in their ATPL courses, the current European climate for jobs is at the end and my goal is to live and work in Asia, I am now looking further afield to the Flight Schools in Asia as well.

Having done some research, All Asia Aviation based in the Philippines was recommended to me. Whilst the course seems slightly different to an integrated ATPL i.e. All Asia Aviation seem to train you through a modular approach - PPL, CPL, MER, IR Rating as compared to OAA where you begin with 6 Months ATPL exams and ground school, then go on and do the flight training. The end result/ qualification seem the same and I would still need a type rating to progress with an airline.

I also believe that I’d have to take my ATPL exams, are they a huge step up from the CPL exams?

My thoughts are that whilst training in Asia I am at the centre of Asia's Aviation growth so may find openings and placements with Asian Airlines at the end of my training.

Do you think this is quite plausible or are Asian Airlines only recruiting their own citizens through their own flight training programmes?

Is there also any Asian flight schools you recommend and do you find that students who follow training course such as the one set by All Asia Aviation hinders their progress for securing an Airline position due to this?

I hope you can share your knowledge and opinions on this.

Many thanks

Joe

Dear Joe,

While it is true that opportunity to be an airline pilot is better in Asia than in UK, it may also be problematic for you after your ATPL to secure a job in this part of the world. As you already know, most Asian airlines prefer to take in their own citizens except for a few ones (that set very high standards for foreigners to get in)

However I know of an Iranian that finally got a job after his flying training in Malaysia. He had to work very hard (he told me), took any flying jobs that came along, especially in Indonesia where he was flying the propellers planes.

Now he is being trained on the wide body Airbus A330, something he probably never dream off!

You can read from my website that I have recommended many Malaysian pilot wannabes to do their training in Malaysia rather than overseas due to conversion issues. See article below here

As far as I know, the flying schools in Malaysia train their pilots up to CPL(equivalent to frozen ATPL). The frozen ATPL (CPL) will be unfrozen as soon as they have logged 1500 hours. See my article here So there is no further exams to upgrade to ATPL.

I am unfamiliar with All Asia Aviation courses and their syllabus and cannot offer any useful opinion on their courses offered.

Trackback(0)

Comments (2)

...

Joe, please reconsider your plan of joining All Asia Academy. Yup, they are famous because now they are advertising all over the place. Please do more research about it. I have friends there and their comment about that school aint good.

Jack ,
29 Jul, 2014

+0

I think it will be a good choice to try china.

Hi, I know that for a foreigner it will be a lot more easier to get into a chinese airline. Generally the pay will be a lot more higher. It might not be as high as in the UK, but China is cheap so unless you want to like send money back to the UK, you'll have a relatively easy climb to a high end job in China. Chinese airlines may discriminate foreigners but hey, I'm not an expert and I know they've hired huge loads of Korean Pilots, and some Australian. Even some of their training facility is in Australia. The culture may be a bit different so maybe try to get into a airline that may cost a bit more for a consumer. The 3 large airlines in China (which you can find in 3 seconds on google) are wholely owned by the state, and you may deal with seeing people date their bosses to get a promotion, or things such as that my father is an official, I deserve to fly an Boeing 747 So It's your choice but I would definitely consider a Chinese airline. (and as a person from UK there's a lot higher chance your boss will ask you out)

Follow me

Like What You Read?

If you like what you read, more stories are found in my book LIFE IN THE SKIES (Preview here) and you can purchase a copy here. To check for any latest updates or postings, you can follow my Twitter at @CaptKHLim or Facebook here